After Yovani Gallardo struck out ten Cubs en route to another Milwaukee victory, the club's division lead reached double digits for the first time this season, with the Cardinals now 10.5 games back. The Brewers will send Zack Greinke to the hill today as they look to sweep the Cubs and continue chipping away at their magic number (19). Let's check out the rest of the morning's updates from the NL Central….
- Although the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen were discussing a possible extension earlier this year, talks remain at a standstill for now. The outfielder's agent, Steve Hammond, told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that "it's time to focus on playing baseball and winning games" and that further extension discussions could happen later.
- A raise and increased payroll flexibility wouldn't necessarily convince Andrew Friedman to leave the Rays for the Cubs, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times. "Don't think because this is a glamorous situation he's going to want to jump to it," said manager Joe Maddon. "That's not true."
- Aramis Ramirez tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that, having never reached free agency before, he's unsure what to expect if it happens this winter.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle wonders if the delay in approving new Astros ownership is the league's way of saying it has "lingering doubts" about Jim Crane.
I like the way the Pirates are trying to build the team, but if McCutchen isn’t amiable to signing an extension then just keep going to arbitration and know that he is still under contract through 2015.
“Aramis Ramirez tells Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune that having never reached free agency before, he’s unsure what to expect if it happens this winter.”
Coming off a .312/.357./.528 slash line year, I bet he has at least a decent idea of what to expect…
I just dont understand why Aramis Ramirez doesn’t waive his NTC to play for a contender.
he is a hitter, just not a winner
We need to consider the sources on all this “Friedman won’t leave the Rays” talk. This is coming from a St. Petersburg sports writer and Joe Maddon–of course they’re going to be optimisitc that their star GM doesn’t want to go anywhere.
That said, I think the best realistic option we can hope for in Chicago is Ben Cherrington.
I found it interesting that Andrew McCutchen’s agent (Steve Hammonds) is a 28 year old SP in the Atlantic Independent League for the Camden Riversharks like your link on him takes me to.
29-years-old… McCutchen isn’t stupid enough to have a 28-year-old agent.